LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A group of 14 linemen from eight electric cooperatives across Arkansas will leave this week for Guatemala, where they will help bring electricity to remote villages in the Central American country.

The linemen, accompanied by a safety manager, are to leave Wednesday, according to Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, and will be the second group from the organization to perform the work.

"The Arkansas electric cooperative linemen that worked in Guatemala last October made a tremendous difference in the lives of the residents of three remote villages," said Duane Highley, president and chief executive officer of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

"This new group of dedicated men will improve the quality of lives for present and future generations in the next villages that we will help electrify," Highley said.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas include 17 electric distribution cooperatives that provide electricity to about 500,000 customers in Arkansas and neighboring states.

"The mission of the electric cooperatives back in the 1930s and 1940s was to provide electric service to those that otherwise would not be able to have electricity, and we are following the same playbook for our friends in Guatemala," said Mel Coleman, CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative of Salem and vice president of the NRECA board of directors.

"The men participating in this operation are paving the way for educational and economic opportunities that would be impossible without electricity," he said.